An external gearshift mechanism of the above type is commonly used in light and heavy utility vehicles. The gearshift lever is generally mounted on the floor of the driver's cab so that a transmission of vibrations to the gearshift lever can be largely avoided because, as a rule, the driver's cab is elastically mounted on the undercarriage of the vehicle.
This type of mounting of a gearshift lever on the cab floor is described in the species-defining German Patent No. 42 21 762 A1. Since, however, for maintenance or repair work on the internal combustion engine of the utility vehicle, the driver's cab has to be tilted about a pivot axis, it is necessary either to separate the transmission linkage of the external gearshift mechanism from the gearshift lever, or the linkage must be telescopable. However, a telescoping connection of the gearshift lever to the vehicle transmission is a complicated construction and involves additional costs.